Acetylene-gas generator.



No. 630,722. Patented Aug. 8, I899. P. P. H. MACE & L. L. H. GERARD.

ACETYLENE GAS GENERATOR.

(Applicatiofi filed Dec. 28, 1897.)

(No Model.)

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NITED STATES I FEFI PAUL PHILIPPE IIONORE MACE AND LOUIS LEON HECTORGERARD, OF

PARIS, FRANCE, ASSIGNORS TO LA socrErE LAOETYLENE, or ERUssELs, BELGIUM.

INTERNATIONALE DE ACETYLENE-GAS GENERATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 630,722, dated August8, 1899.

Application filed December 28,1897. $eria1N0= 664,022. (No model.)

in the Republic of France, have invented Improvements in Apparatus forthe Production of Acetylene Gas, (for which we have ob-.

tained a patent in France, dated the 8th of January, 1897, No. 262,899;in England, dated the 4th of February, 1897, No. 3,013; in Austria,dated the 10th of March, 1897, No. 47/835; in Hungary, dated the 21st ofFebruary, 1897, No. 9,113; in Germany, dated the 20th of February, 1897,N0.'95,275; in Belgium', dated the 24th off-February, 1897, No. 126,574;in Spain, dated the 4th of June, 1897, No. 20,850, and in Luxemburg,dated the 17th of November, 1897, No. 3,012,) of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to improvements i apparatus for the production ofacetylene gas, and has for its object to insure perfect regularity ofworking and to render the construction simpler and more practical.

It consists, on the one hand, in a novel arrangement for regulating thefeed of the calcium carbid and, on the other hand, in a specialarrangement of the various parts of the apparatus for the severalpurposes herein after specified.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical section of the apparatus, andFig. 2 a vertical section of the double feed-valve.

In this improved apparatus calcium carbid finely crushed is contained ina receptacleA,

arranged on the upperpart of a'bell or gasometer B, the diameter ofwhich is sufficiently great not to allow of the decrease of weightresulting from the consumption of carbid during a given period of timesensibly modifying the pressure of the gas produced. A tap placed on thegas-discharge pipe allows of this pressure being exactly regulatedaccording as may be thought desirable. This bell is strongly weighted orballasted in its lower part by means of a metal ring I) in order toinsure its being maintained perfectly vertical, and it is partiallycounterbalanced by means of two counterweights G, placed symmetricallyat each side of the apparatus, the suspension-chains c of which weights,after beingpassed over pulleys d, arranged on suitable supports D, arefixed to the top of the bell, which avoids the use of guide-rollers.

The bell, provided as usual witliasafetytube Z), is immersed in areservoir E of sufficient dimensions to contain a sufficiently largevolume of water and having an inclined bottom 6 to facilitate thedischarge of the mud or waste substances through the dischargeopening 6.

The apparatus being preferably arranged in the manner hereinbeforedescribed, the automatic feed arrangement will now be described. Thisconsists, essentially, in the use of two cones mounted on a weighted andguided rod and acting the one above and the other below thedischarge-opening of the carbid-container A. For this object a rod f isemployed,guided by a cross-bar gand having at its upper end a cone h,forming a valve which serves for regulating the discharge of the crushedcarbid contained in the container hereinbefore mentioned, the bottom ofsaid container in the form of a hopper being terminated by an opening2', having a doublytapering form. Ata short distance below this openingasecond cone 7c, of larger dimensions,

is arranged on the rod f, the distance of which cone from the openingmay be regulated by means of apin k and a series of holes f in the rodf, into which holes the pin can be inserted. The rod f,'which isconstantly depressed by the weight of the two cones h and k and by theaction of a spiral spring 0", passes through an opening in the center ofa fixed horizontal lever Z, the use of which will be hereinafterdescribed. Finallythe .rod f is provided with an adjustable stop f,which comes in contact with the lever when" the bell descendssufficiently. The working ofthis arrangement takes place as follows:When the cone or upper valve 72. is lowered, it prevents any dischargeof pulverulent carbid into the water of thereservoir E; but when inconsequence of the discharge of gas by the discharge-pipe T the bell Bdescends the stop f encounters the leverZ and the rodf is raised, and,the upper cone it being also raised, causes the fall of a certainquantity of carbid and consequently the production of a correspondingquantity of gas. As soon as the bell B rises this cone or valve closesunder the action of the spring 1* and interrupts the feed until anotherlowering of the bell produces the saine action. The same effect willobviously be obtained by an additional weight arranged on the rod finstead of the spring 7'.

In order to allow of the free flow of the carbid, the moment the uppercone h rises a tube q establishes free communication between the upperpart of the carbid-reservoir and the bell, which insures equality ofpressure of the gas above and below the dichargeopening 6.

The action of the lower cone 7;, movable at a short distance below theopening 71 of the carbid-container, will now be examined. As soon as thebell B has descended to a certain extent the second cone it closes thelower part of the opening 2' and interrupts the supply of carbid. Assoon, however, as the bell rises it again allows a certain quantity ofcarbid to pass through up to the moment when the upper cone 7L againcloses. In this manner the fall of carbid is divided into two successiveperiods, which renders regular the production of gas and avoids anysudden variation of pressure in the apparatus. This lower cone 7c, thediameter of which is of considerable size, has also the effect ofdistributing over a larger surface of the liquid the pulverulent carbid,the fall of which at a single point would cause a sudden efiervescenceof the water and a deleterious release of vapor.

The lower cone by reason of its large inetallicsurfaceservesalsoforcondensingthe steam which may be contained inthe gas inclosed in the bell, and it has, further, the advantage ofkeeping closed the orifice of the carbid-reservoir when in consequenceof any accident the cone h or upper valve ceases to close itselfautomatically.

Another improvement consists in the arrangement of catches serving tomaintain the bell fixed when desired and particularly during thecharging of carbid into the container A, arranged at its upper part.This object may be attained either by raising or lowering the bell, asfollows: \Vhen it is desired to operate by the rising of the bell, it isprovided at each side with catches or spurs s, which when it is raisedto a certain extent engage in rings pivotally arranged on the supports Dof the counterweights O, as indicated at the left of Fig. I.

In order to effect the charging of the container A with carbid, the bellis suficiently raised to allow the pressure of gas which it contains tobecome equal to the pressure of the atmosphere and of its being held andmaintained fixed at this height by means of the catches s hereinbeforementioned. The

carbid-reservoir may then without trouble be opened and filled by meansof the opening a. Then this operation is completed, it is sniiicient torelease the catches s, which maintain the bell raised in order to allowthe apparatus again to commence working in the man'- ner hereinbeforedescribed.

\Vhen it is desired to operate by the lowering of the bell, the lever lis utilized, which, as may be seen in Fig. 1 of the drawings, is pivotedat one end on aspindle Z, fixed in the interior of the water-reservoir Eand at the other end to a rod it, which rises to a height above the saidreservoir, where when work ing normally it is fixed to a fixed hook o,placed at any desired height, so that the lever Zmay assume a horizontalposition. WVhen it is desired to render the bell B immovable, the leverZ is lowered into the position shown in dotted lines, so that the stop fhereinbefore mentioned can no longer be encountered by the lever at themoment when the bell descends, and then a portion of the water containedin the reservoir E is discharged by the opening 6. The bellB descendsaccordingly,

and its catches s bear against the edge of the reservoirE, or,ifpreferred, projecting catches a may be fixed in this reservoir, on whichthe bell will rest. By allowing a certain quantity of water to bedischarged the pressure of gas will be lowered in the bell which hasbeen rendered immovable. When it has become equal to the atmosphericpressure, the reservoir A may be opened without inconvenience and afresh charge of carbid introduced therein. In order to restart theapparatus, it is sufficient to introduce into the reservoir E a quantityof water equal to that which was withdrawn, and then to raise the leverZ into its original position, causing a fall of carbid, which willreestablish the pressure of gas to the desired extent in the bell.

. WVe declare that what we claim is An apparatus for the production ofacetylene gas, comprising a water-reservoir E a bell or gasometer Bpartially counterbalanced by means of a counterweight (J acarbid-receptacle A, two cones or feed-valves h and 7t the cone harranged over the opening 1', the cone is adjustable below the opening iof the receptacle A, a rod f carrying the two cones h and 7t and inducedto descend by means of a spring, an adjustable st'op f fixed on the rodf, a lever Z pivoted on a spindle arranged in the water-reservoir andserving as stop for the rod f a rod 10 serving to regulate the positionof the lever Z and catches 3 serving to maintain the bell immovable.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

PAUL PHILIPPE llONOltll MACE. LOUIS LEON HECTOR GERARD. IVitnesses:

LoUIs TAILFER, JAC UES CONDOMY.

